Brands Hatch: Ten Kate Honda race report

Double tops for Toseland at Brands Hatch
James Toseland secured his first double race win of the season in front
of a huge home crowd at Brands Hatch today. An estimated 126,000 people
visited the Kent circuit over the weekend to support the...

Double tops for Toseland at Brands Hatch

James Toseland secured his first double race win of the season in front
of a huge home crowd at Brands Hatch today. An estimated 126,000 people
visited the Kent circuit over the weekend to support the HANNspree Ten
Kate Honda rider at the final UK round of the Superbike World
Championship.

The double victory has enabled Toseland to extend his series lead to 66
points over new closest rival Noriyuki Haga with only three rounds
remaining. However, there is still a lot of work to be done and the
British rider faced strong challenges throughout both of today's 25-lap
races.

Race one saw the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider battling with Troy
Bayliss and Troy Corser for the top spot. Toseland gained the advantage
before Bayliss crashed out of contention, leaving Corser and Max Biaggi
to fill the other spots on the podium.

In race two it was Haga who posed the biggest threat, swapping places
with the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda contender several times in a thrilling
dice for the lead. By lap 22 Toseland had pulled out a gap of more than
one second and he maintained station until the chequered flag.

Team-mate Roberto Rolfo endured a more difficult race day after
struggling to get to grips with the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR at
the 3.7km track in extremely hot and humid weather conditions. The
Italian rider settled for sixth and 11th positions respectively to
maintain eighth position overall.

Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager:

"Sometimes the results get pretty close to perfection and I think today
we hit the bullseye with Kenan winning the World Supersport Championship
title and two magnificent wins from James. The goal was to extend the
series lead, but as it happens the result was even better than this. To
get the double in front of such a fantastic crowd makes it even more
memorable for us. We have three more rounds to go and it would be nice to
continue our domination throughout. We all share the same goal so I'm
pretty sure that we will all give it 100 per cent"

James Toseland:

"I've waited a long time for this moment and I can't quite believe I have
finally done it. It's taken me seven years, but to get the Superbike
double win at Brands Hatch was well worth the wait. The crowd here today
have been absolutely amazing and I can't thank them enough for their
support. On top of that, I dedicate the wins to my team, my family and my
friends."

Roberto Rolfo:

"The feeling on the bike during the morning was good and I was looking
forward to the races to try to get up to the front of the pack. I had a
good start in race one, but in race two I had a braking problem and was
unable to push as hard as I wanted to. Anyway, we have made some good
progress this weekend and I have enjoyed racing at Brands Hatch."